Victoria's Secret is an American lingerie, clothing and beauty retailer. Founded in 1977 by Stanford graduate student Roy Raymond and his wife Gaye, the company's five lingerie stores were sold to Les Wexner in 1982. Wexner rapidly expanded into American shopping malls, expanding the company into 350 stores nationally with sales of $1 billion by the early 1990s, when Victoria's Secret became the largest lingerie retailer in the United States.

Since 1995, the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show has been a major part of the brand's image, featuring an annual runway spectacle of models promoted by the company as fantasy Angels. Being titled an “Angel” is considered a very prestigious title, and only given to models who regularly work with Victoria’s Secret. The 1990s saw the company's further expansion throughout shopping malls, along with the introduction of the 'miracle bra', the new brand Body by Victoria, and the development of a line of fragrances and cosmetics. In 2002, Victoria's Secret announced the launch of PINK, a brand that was aimed to teenagers and young women. Starting in 2008, Victoria's Secret expanded internationally, with retail outlets within international airports, franchises in major cities overseas, and company-owned stores throughout Canada and the UK.

By 2016, Victoria's Secret's market share began to decline due to competition from other brands that embraced a wider range of sizes and a growing consumer preference for athleisure. The company canceled the circulation of their catalog in 2016. The brand struggled to maintain its market position following criticism and controversy over the unsavory behavior and business practices of corporate leadership under Wexner and Ed Razek. As of May 2020^[update], with over 1,070 stores, Victoria's Secret remained the largest lingerie retailer in the United States.

Victoria's Secret was founded by Roy Raymond, and his wife, Gaye Raymond, on June 12, 1977. The first store was opened in Stanford Shopping Center in Palo Alto, California. Years earlier, Raymond was embarrassed when purchasing lingerie for his wife at a department store. Newsweek reported Roy Raymond stating: "When I tried to buy lingerie for my wife, I was faced with racks of terry-cloth robes and ugly floral-print nylon nightgowns, and I always had the feeling the department store saleswomen thought I was an unwelcome intruder." Fashion Illiteracy explained on Roy's experiences, "The women's lingerie section was extremely uncomfortable for a man. He wandered the aisles for a long time, feeling awkward, and the saleswomen couldn't help him because their work was exclusively focused on serving women. Raymond left the store without making a purchase. Instead, he was determined to realize his new idea – to open a lingerie store with an atmosphere and environment where even men would feel comfortable shopping." Raymond reportedly spent the next eight years studying the lingerie market.

At the time when the Raymonds founded Victoria's Secret, the undergarments market in the U.S. was dominated by pragmatic items from Fruit of the Loom, Hanes, and Jockey, often sold in packs of three at department stores, while lingerie was reserved for special occasions such as one's honeymoon. Considered niche products, lingerie items (such as lacy thongs and padded push-up bras) were only found in specialty shops like Frederick's of Hollywood, located "alongside feathered boas and provocative pirate costumes". In 1977, Raymond borrowed $40,000 from family and $40,000 from a bank to establish Victoria's Secret: a store in which men could feel comfortable buying lingerie. The store was named in reference to Queen Victoria and the associated refinement of the Victorian era, while the "secret" was hidden underneath the clothes.

Victoria's Secret grossed $500,000 in its first year of business ($2.41 million in 2024), enough to finance the expansion from a headquarters and warehouse to four new store locations and a mail-order operation. The fourth store, added in 1982 at 395 Sutter Street in San Francisco, operated at that location until 1990, when it was moved to the larger Powell Street frontage of the Westin St. Francis.

In April 1982, Raymond sent out his 12th catalog at a cost to customers of $3 (equivalent to $10 in 2024); catalog sales accounted for 55% of the company's $7 million annual sales that year. Victoria's Secret was a minor player in the underwear market at this time, with the business described as "more burlesque than Main Street."

In 1982, Victoria's Secret had grown to five stores, a 40-page catalog, and was grossing $6 million annually. Raymond sold the company to Les Wexner, creator of Limited Stores Inc of Columbus, Ohio, for $1 million. In 1983, Wexner revamped Victoria's Secret's sales model towards a greater focus on female customers. Victoria's Secret transformed into a mainstay that sold broadly accepted underwear with "new colors, patterns and styles that promised sexiness packaged in a tasteful, glamorous way and with the snob appeal of European luxury" meant to appeal to female buyers. To further this image, the Victoria's Secret catalog continued the practice that Raymond began: listing the company's headquarters on catalogs at a fake London address, with the real headquarters in Columbus, Ohio. The stores were redesigned to evoke the Victorian era.